20 March 2008

Become a Professional Cycle Freak

We reported about it before. Denmark is in desperate need of bike mechanics. So much so that the organisation of bike shops - Danske Cykelhandlere - started a campaign with free café postcards aimed at getting young people interested in taking the bike mechanic education.

With over 600 bike shops in Copenhagen alone (most of them earning their wage by repairing bikes) let alone the rest of the nation, you can do the math

From their website, (now defunct):"There is a big shortage of bike mechanics. The reason is that more and more bikes are being sold and they need to be serviced and repaired. In addition, bikes are becoming more advanced. Gone are the days when people used half a weekend to fix up their own bikes as best they could.

They would rather send it to a mechanic. That's why the need for good bike mechanics is rising. Completing the bike mechanic education is quite like printing your own job guarantee, but it's close."

With Denmark virtually at full employment (back in 2008, when this was first written), there are shortages in many areas of the workforce. Bike mechanics are no exception.

The course takes three years. 40 weeks are in the classroom, the rest of the time is in an apprenticeship.

With all that said, you don't HAVE to take the course to open a bike shop. Many immigrants open bike shops with their skills from their homeland.

I find it a bit funny that the bike in the postcard is like nothing you see on the bike lanes in any Danish city, but hey. It's advertising.

Kilometres cycled by Copenhageners so far today

Copenhagenize.com is the blog of Copenhagenize Design Company. Online since 2007 and highlighting the cycling life in Copenhagen and around the world.

40 years ago Copenhagen was just as car-clogged as anywhere else but now 41% of the population arriving at work or education do so on bicycles, from all over the Metro area. 56% of Copenhageners themselves use bicycles each day. They all use over 1000 km of bicycle lanes in Greater Copenhagen for their journeys. Copenhagenizing is possible anywhere.